In NASA's latest telemetry timeline (revision 12.1), at least one sensor recorded landing gear deployment at 8:59:06 a.m., a full 26 seconds before contact with Columbia was lost. Reliable sources close to the investigation said today the telemetry is believed to be the result of a sensor failure, or "bit flip," and not any indication of an actual deployment.

How do they know it was a "blip" ? And I still havent been able tor econcile this with the timeline, 26 seconds is right over Texas, not California. Still, this certainly sheds more light on the wheel well.